Daily Record Sports Writer
COLUMBUS — Hiland coach Dave Schlabach has long been a believer that defense and rebounding win championships.
Thanks to an impressive defensive effort turned in by junior guard Sasha Goings, the Hawks will get a shot at another state championship.
The Hiland defense held off a couple chances to tie the game down the stretch to give the Hawks a 54-51 triumph over Reedsville Eastern in the Div. IV state semifinal Friday afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus.
"Before we got off the floor, I gave Sasha a hug," Schlabach said. "I think that's the most minutes she's played all year, while guarding the best player we've seen all year. She had a big effort for us. We expect that. We expect our kids to figure out a way to get things done. She's tired, but she earned a game ball, that's for sure."
Goings drew the tough task of trying to slow down Eastern's junior guard Jenna Burdette, and while the Eagles' star scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, the constant pressure applied by Goings, Jenica Schrock and Emily Yoder, forced Burdette into 14 turnovers.
"She's really good. We had people come into practice and play like she does for a week or so," Goings said of Burdette. "Every time she turned the ball over, it gave us a little more confidence to get up on her. It was kind of like trying to guard Gina (Regina Hochstetler) in practice."
One of the players with a lot of confidence was Schrock.
"She was sick before the game. She really gutted it out," Schlabach said. "I thought she gave us a huge spark in the third quarter. We're down eight, and Jenica hits that 3 and split a couple free throws. She's a fireplug for us."
The true spark plug for the Hawks was Hochstetler, who poured in a game-high 24 points, 17 coming in the second half when Hiland needed every one of her tallies.
"Ten's one of the best players we faced all year," Eastern coach John Burdette said of Hochstetler. "In my notes from when I saw her play before, I said '10 can take over a basketball game.' And she did."
The Eagles opened the second half on a 6-0 run to open up an eight-point lead (25-17). But, the Hawks answered with a 10-0 run of their own, as Schrock and Hochstetler canned 3-pointers, and Goings stole an inbounds, made a layup and was fouled to give the Hawks a 27-25 lead.
The teams traded baskets the rest of the third quarter with Eastern taking a 37-35 lead into the final frame.
Hiland's Natalie Nickol scored to knot things up and the game went back and forth the rest of the way.
After a turnover by the Eagles, Hochstetler scored to put the Hawks ahead 39-37.
Jordan Parker answered with five straight points for Eastern, including a 3-pointer, to reclaim the lead for the Eagles.
"Their supporting cast shot the ball a lot better than we anticipated," Schlabach said. "It was a great challenge right from the start."
Baskets by Hochstetler and Kendra Schlabach put the Hawks back in front early in the fourth quarter. Kendra Schlabach finished with nine points for the winners (26-3).
Hiland fell behind by three (46-43) midway through the final period after Parker swished a pair of free throws and Maddie Rigsby buried a jumper from the elbow before Hiland took a timeout to settle things down.
Kendra Schlabach scored on a jumper from the wing and after a miss, Jasmine Goings hit a pair of free throws to give the Hawks a 47-46 lead with 3:43 remaining.
Another turnover and a foul led to Hochstetler hitting two free throws to give the Hawks a 49-46 advantage.
"These two kids are so skilled," Schlabach said of Kendra Schlabach and Regina Hochstetler. "They got a chance to show that today."
Jasmine Goings (nine points, five rebounds) turned another miscue into a bucket inside and the Hawks led 51-46 at the 2-minute mark.
Parker, who finished with 18 points, answered at the other end, and then the Hawks came up empty on their possession, leading to a pair of free throw attempts by Burdette, who split the pair, to pull the Eagles within two, 51-49.
Burdette then followed up a missed front end of the one-and-one with a bucket to tie the game at 51-all with 1:15 remaining.
Hochstetler ran the old wheel play, faking a handoff at the foul line and then driving in for the go-ahead score with 55 seconds to play.
"I think we've scored 800 points on that play over the last 20 years," Schlabach said.
Eastern then turned the ball over down two, but the Hawks missed an ill-advised shot, giving the Eagles another shot at tying or taking the lead with 30 seconds remaining, only to come up empty.
Hochstetler split a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining to put Hiland up three (54-51), and the Hawks survived two trips down the floor by the Eagles, thanks in large part to Sasha Goings' defensive effort on Burdette.
"I thought in the end, it came down to our depth and our defensive pressure," coach Schlabach said. "We're real proud of our group. We're a small group, in size, but these kids play with a lot of heart and determination.
"We've played against a lot of big people this year and we've done OK," the coach added. "Their two guards as well were a physical challenge for us. Luckily, we turned them over 20 times, and I thought that was key because we were going to have to get a lot of extra possessions in the game."
The Hawks hit 18-of-53 shots from the floor, compared to 21-of-45 for the Eagles.
Both teams made four 3-pointers, but Hiland held a 14-5 edge from the free throw line.
"I thought both teams played well. That's the way a semifinal is supposed to be. I just wish we were on the other end of it," coach Burdette said.
The Eagles end their season 23-5.
"This game was pretty similar to our regional semifinal and district semifinal where we kind of had to claw our way back," coach Schlabach said. "We showed a lot of toughness."
Hochstetler had a hard time getting her shot from the perimeter, but she made 5-of-6 from the free throw line to lead the Hawks with seven points at the half.
The entire Hiland team struggled from the field in the first half, as the Hawks managed only 5-of-23 shooting. Hiland's defense, however, forced the Eagles into 12 turnovers in the opening 16 minutes.
The Eagles started out white hot, hitting their first three 3-point attempts to open a 9-3 lead midway through the first quarter, but Eastern missed its next nine attempts from beyond the arc.
